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2010 Travel Blog
This year a seven person team is traveling to South Africa to distribute all the items collected through your generosity during the Humanitarian drive at Beaver lake Middle school. Some of the 480 boxes hold over 7000 books that will benefit the students in South Africa. Detailed information about their trip may be found on their 2010 Travel Blog.
The six person travel team departed from Seattle on July 10th and landed in Johannesburg 24 hours later. After spending a few days acclimating to the new time zone in Pretoria and the Pilanesberg Game Reserve, they headed to the rural towns of Underberg and Himeville in the KwaZulu ‐Natal Province of South Africa. The team visited and placed school supplies in the hands of more than 6000 students in 32 schools, traveling a total of 1,650 miles to reach some of the most remote schools in the area.
Seven years ago, after a personal trip to Ghana, West Africa, the leadership teacher and students at Beaver Lake Middle School were asked about focusing our efforts on "kids helping kids", especially in the area of education. Our students have always been generous and giving and we wanted to have our students collect educational supplies, ship them to Ghana. School staff members fly over in the summer to ensure their delivery. The kids readily accepted the challenge and that first year we sent over 60 boxes of educational supplies, clothing, and basic needs to a rural village in Ghana. We returned to school in the fall and shared photos with our students of their success.
In 2008, items were placed in the hands of over 6200 students in 32 schools. These items were collected from four schools in our community, involving over 2500 students. In 2008 a travel team of 12(5 middle school students, 5 parents and two teachers)... made the journey to deliver the items.
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | Total | |
| Computers | 15 | 75 | 176 | 21 | 307 |
| Bicycles | 21 | 61 | 61 | 70 | 307 |
| Books | 5,129 | 7,227 | 11,100 | 7,713 | 41,132 |
| Stuffed Animals | 938 | 1,551 | 2,000 | 3,543 | 10,724 |
| Total Boxes | 459 | 680 | 821 | 480 | 2,850 |
| Estimated Value | $24,094 | $30,730 | $40,726 | 22,738 | $140,285 |
Total student volunteer hours = 840+ and rising